Early in the morning, Sandgem Town, Professor Rowan's lab.
A rampaging Electivire was causing destruction everywhere, and the Pokémon inside the lab scattered in all directions.
Tap, tap-tap—
The crisp, steady sound of high heels approached, and Electivire turned its head to look.
"Kao."
A pair of scarlet eyes appeared from the other side of the door, followed by the owner of the eyes.
A Dragon-type Pokémon, resembling a hammerhead shark with a deep blue base color, was staring intently at it.
Tap, tap-tap, tap-tap-tap—
The sound of high heels clacking on marble echoed through the air, directly entering Electivire's heart.
A flash of gold appeared from behind Garchomp, followed by a black trench coat, long wide-leg pants, and black high heels with red soles.
A gentle smile adorned her beautiful face.
"What happened?"
A cool voice rang out.
Electivire looked at her, its raised, sparking palm losing its electricity in front of her, then lowering its hand.
Under Garchomp's restless, claw-rubbing movements, it obediently came before Cynthia.
The assistant nearby sighed in relief, then saluted her and ran outside.
"Cynthia, I have to trouble you again this time."
Cynthia turned around, and Professor Rowan's figure appeared from behind the door.
"Professor."
Cynthia patted the Electivire in front of her, signaling that it was fine to leave, then turned to greet Professor Rowan.
Professor Rowan nodded, then led the way inside. Cynthia, seeing this, followed with Garchomp.
It wasn't until the afternoon that Cynthia and Garchomp emerged from the lab.
"Thanks to your help, otherwise this research wouldn't have been so easy."
Professor Rowan laughed heartily at Cynthia by the door.
"It's my honor to be of assistance to you."
Cynthia smiled faintly.
After bidding farewell, Cynthia and Garchomp walked leisurely.
She hadn't been to Sandgem Town in a long time. This visit to help Professor Rowan with his research was a good opportunity to Slack Off a bit.
Still not wanting to return to the League, she thought of Twinleaf Town and headed in its direction with Garchomp.
Walking along Route 219, Cynthia quietly listened to the Growl of the Bug-type Pokémon and Bird-type Pokémon around her, momentarily lost in thought.
It felt as if she hadn't truly stopped to rest in a long time.
The thought of returning to the League and having to deal with a mountain of League affairs made Cynthia sigh with a frown.
Being a Champion is so tiring… At this moment, a house not far away caught her attention.
"This is… a Breeding House?"
Cynthia looked at the sign outside the door and asked in confusion.
"Kao."
Garchomp indicated that it didn't know either.
Listening to the laughter of Pokémon coming from inside, Cynthia was a little curious. She stood at the entrance, one elbow resting on the palm of her other hand, then propped up her chin, pondered for a moment, clapped her hands, and walked in with Garchomp.
Upon entering, she noticed the lounge area in front of the counter. The sound of high heels clacking on the marble echoed as she walked to the lounge area, bent down, picked up a photo frame from the table, and carefully examined the picture inside.
A Petilil was smiling sweetly.
She walked further towards the counter, where more photos were displayed: some of individual Pokémon, some of people and Pokémon, and some of people holding Pokémon Eggs.
Those holding Pokémon Eggs must be customers of the Breeding House, and those Pokémon must be the ones kept by the Breeding House. Cynthia nodded discreetly as she looked.
She could tell that these Pokémon were all very happy.
Then, one photo caught her attention: a Gengar's face was pushing against a man's face, squishing his face to the side, then grinning, creating a stark contrast with the man's expression of both disgust and helplessness.
She picked up this photo and observed it carefully, her lips unconsciously curving into a slight smile.
At this moment, laughter came from behind the door behind the counter. Cynthia placed the photo back on the counter, facing the main door, thought for a moment, then went behind the counter, pushed open the door, and walked in.
In the backyard, Lucas was preparing the items needed for afternoon tea with his Gengar and others.
Since he received news last night that Shauna was visiting her grandfather today, Lucas didn't have Dash pick her up this morning. Instead, he opened for business and worked as usual, just like before.
Because the weather was too hot this afternoon, Lucas decided to make some ice cream himself.
At this moment, he was standing in front of a cold box, scooping ice cream for his Gengar and others, spoonful after spoonful.
He asked Mime Jr. to help scoop the ice cream, then told Gengar to ask Vespiquen and the others if they wanted some. After all, he had used so much of their sweet honey these past few days, and he couldn't just use it for free. Enjoying some delicious ice cream in this weather before going back to making honey was also a great choice.
Then he returned to the kitchen to bring out the desserts and officially start today's afternoon tea.
It really felt a bit unaccustomed without Shauna here. Lucas sighed in his heart, wondering if she liked ice cream.
Shaking his head, Lucas reached out to open the kitchen door. Before his hand even touched the doorknob, the door opened by itself.
"?!"
Lucas curiously looked up, wanting to see who had opened the door.
What greeted his eyes was dazzling blonde hair, a black trench coat, and wide-leg pants worn over high-heeled legs, making her legs appear exceptionally long.
He looked up just as she looked down at his face on the step below, and their eyes met.
A beauty like a painting… Lucas looked at the familiar face before him, disbelieving.
"Cynthia?"
"Hello, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to intrude."
Cynthia looked at the man on the step below, her fair face slightly flushed. She had walked in out of curiosity, and entering without permission was a very rude thing to do, and being caught so blatantly made her truly embarrassed.
"I'm really sorry, I'll leave now."
Cynthia clasped her hands together and quickly apologized, then looked up, preparing to leave, but saw the ice cream not far away.
"Is that… ice cream?"
Cynthia said in surprise, stopping her movements for a moment.
"Ah, yes."
Hearing this, Lucas snapped out of his daze. Looking at the fair-skinned, beautiful Cynthia in front of him, he took a deep breath to calm himself down and continued, "Would you like to try some? I made it myself."
"Eh? Really?"
Cynthia asked with some surprise.
"Of course."
Lucas nodded, then stepped aside to make way for her.
Cynthia hesitated for a moment, glanced at him, then at Mime Jr. and Petilil not far away, and finally at Garchomp beside her.
Then she nodded and walked out of the kitchen with her long, slender legs.
Leading Cynthia to the ice cream box, Lucas took the large scoop from Mime Jr.'s hand.
"So, what flavors would you like?"
"Hmm…"
Seeing her fall into indecision, Lucas then remembered that Cynthia was an avid fan of ice cream, but also suffered from severe decision-making difficulty when it came to choosing ice cream.
"How about this, I'll give you a little of each."
Lucas interrupted Cynthia's thoughts and said with a smile.
Looking at the smile on Lucas's face, Cynthia clapped her hands.
"Then I'll trouble you."